Apple Faces $862M In Damages After Patent Lawsuit Loss To University Of Wisconsin

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Apple is no stranger to patent lawsuits, but a more recent suit filed by the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s licensing branch may prove a costly loss for the iPhone maker.

A United States jury found that Apple’s A7, A8, and A8X chips, which are present in the iPhone 5S, iPhone 6 and the new iPhone 6S (plus some models of the iPad), contain technology covered by a 1998 patent filed by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (aka WARF).

The presiding judge, U.S. District Judge William Conley, said that Apple could owe up to $862 million in damages.

Reuters reports that the case was split into three sections (liability, damages, and willful infringement), with the latter being determined at a later date and potentially upping the cost of the loss for Apple.

The patent in question, U.S. Patent No. 5,781,752 for a “Table based data speculation circuit for parallel processing computer” is meant to make computer chips more power-efficient.

And this lawsuit is hardly the end of Apple’s patent woes. WARF filed another suit last month that says Apple’s newest chips, the A9 and A9X, also violate the patent, according to Reuters.

In 2009, WARF filed a similar lawsuit against Intel for violation of the same patent, which was settled out of court.

You can see the full, original complaint (filed in January 2015) right here: